Portrait of Mao in Tian'anmen Square

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The image of Mao in Tian'anmen Square, 2007

The Mao image in Tian'anmen Square is the official state portrait of Mao Zedong . It is installed above the Gate of Heavenly Peace in Beijing . It shows in monumental size the portrait of the Great Chairman, who proclaimed China's independence on October 1, 1949. The portrait is a national icon of “New China”, since Andy Warhol's screen print from 1972 it has also been an icon of Western pop culture. The picture is considered to be the most widely reproduced image of a person in the world.

History of the portrait

The first official picture of Mao, which was briefly presented above the Gate of Heavenly Peace in October 1949, was painted by Zhou Lingzhao (周 令 钊 * 1919) from a photograph. Mao is dressed in a robust military uniform, he wears an octagonal cap, his mouth is slightly open, he looks over the crowd and into the distance. This image is more like a snapshot than an official representative portrait.

Mao Zedong 1959

On May 1, 1950, it was replaced by a work by Xin Mang (辛 莽 * 1916), teacher at the Yan'an Art Academy. It shows Mao dressed for the first time in the manner that it becomes canonical for all subsequent official portraits . He wears a gray civilian suit with high buttons, the so-called Mao suit , he has no headgear. The picture is painted from a slightly lower angle : Mao has turned his gaze upwards, i.e. i.e., he does not make eye contact with the viewer. On October 1st of the same year it was replaced by a slightly modified portrait of Xing Mang, which was also shown only for a short time. The archetype of all official Mao images is that of the art educator Zhang Zhenshi (张振仕, 1914–1992), who won a competition organized by the government. Compared to his predecessors, Zhang Zhenshi shows an idealized Mao with youthful features, full black hair, dressed in a simple gray, high-necked suit, as in the two previous pictures. The image background is sky blue. Since Mao's upper body is turned slightly to the left from the central axis, only one ear is shown. The light falls from the front left, ie from the south-west, onto the subject, who looks at the viewer with a full gaze. In Zhang Zhenshi's picture, a relationship between the person portrayed and the viewer is established for the first time. Mao looks directly at everyone in every place on the square. The fact that he has moved out of the central axis creates the illusion that Mao is looking for everyone on the square personally with his gaze. However, one does not meet at eye level, Mao hovers over the crowd, as it were as a god-like entity removed from everything earthly.

Mao Zedong 1963

From 1950 to 1967 the picture, on which the painters Zuo Hui (1912–1992), Zhang Hesong (1912–2005) and Wang Qizhi (* 1934) also worked, in addition to Zhang Zhenshi himself.

Zhang's winning competition picture was put up for auction by a foreign vendor at the Beijing Huachen Auction Company on June 6, 2006 at an estimate of $ 120,000–150,000. After violent public protests - it was feared that the painting could be bought by a foreigner - the painting was withdrawn from the auction.

In 1963, Zhang Zhenshi was replaced as the official portrait painter by Wang Guodong (王国栋, * 1931). His state portrait from 1964 shows a Mao whose face shows signs of age. He has apparently gained weight, his face is wider, his chin and cheeks have become saggy. At the end of the 1970s, another version of Wang Guodong was represented, Mao has moved back into the central axis so that both ears can now be seen. The further aging process is cautiously recorded by the painter. The high forehead is emphasized, a slight smile plays on the lips of the Great Chairman.

Until 1966, the picture was only shown here for about ten days around May 1st and October 1st. It has only had its permanent place here since the Cultural Revolution .

In 1976, the year Mao died, a black and white photo from the Xinhua News Agency hung over the gate for a short time .

The following two responsible for the state portrait, Liu Yang (born 1958) from 1977 and Ge Xiaoguang from 1981 ( ) are both students and former employees Wangs. The Mao portrait that is still presented on the square is from Ge. It shows Mao in the usual clothing in front of a background that runs in delicate pastel tones from light blue to pale pink, he looks at the viewer head-on, both ears can be seen, the light falls from the right, i.e. from the east, onto a Mao with a high balding head Hair is no longer as full and as black as in the previous portraits, bags under the eyes are indicated and a tired line around the eyes cannot be overlooked.

The workshop

The workshop, in which, in addition to the state portrait, comparable portraits of other official personalities as well as replicas of the state portrait are made with the help of a crew of trained painters, is located directly behind the Gate of Heavenly Peace, initially in a tent, and since the early 1970s in one Hermetically sealed, fire-proof 90 m², 8 m high metal hall with glass roof. More recently, it has been equipped with a lifting platform, which makes the painters' work easier, is not open to the public and is guarded by the military.

Every year between August and September, the 4 m × 6 m large and up to two tons heavy picture is exchanged with the help of a crane. At the festivities of October 1st, a flawless specimen is to be presented that shows no dirt, signs of weathering, damage or stains. The primer of the picture is made of plaster, so that it can be painted over again after it has been removed, while an overhauled copy, which has meanwhile been renewed in the workshop, takes its place. The annual exchange of the image only allowed minimal changes, in which the aging process of the person could be carefully traced.

The place of presentation

View from the grandstand at the Gate of Heavenly Peace over Tian'anmen Square to the Mao Mausoleum on the south side of the square;

The place where the Mao image is presented is of great symbolic importance. Until the end of the Empire, the Gate of Heavenly Peace was the entrance to the Forbidden City , the center of power in the Chinese Empire . Aligned in the north-south axis, located in the center of Beijing, the Forbidden City was the center of the world in the worldview of imperial China. From the rostra - the Rostra , where the Mao portrait hangs today, the imperial decrees were read out until 1911, here Mao proclaimed the independence of China on October 1, 1949, consciously tying in with the tradition of the demonstration of state power that is manifested here.

The Gate of Heavenly Peace, October 2009

Art historical classification

In the categories of art history, the Mao-image counts on Tian'anmen Square to the portraits of rulers , as they are in European art since ancient times and as in China in comparable versions of Emperor portraits least since the Song Dynasty were made . However, there are no formal references to its Chinese form; the Mao picture is rather committed to the Soviet portrait painting of Socialist Realism , as it has been taught at the Chinese art academies since the 1950s. Models are the corresponding portraits of Stalin and Lenin.

Typically, in a portrait of a ruler, the person is depicted completely or almost frontally, often in direct eye contact with the viewer. Unlike the rule there, however, the Mao portrait lacks the usual attributes of rank and power, as well as any references to a historical or geographical location of the depicted. The aim is not a realistic representation of an individual person, but rather a stylization and exaggeration with the aim of an image effect that gives the depicted an aura of power and authority, which makes the image suitable for cultic worship. As Peter Burke puts it, the image of the ruler does not reflect reality, but creates a "social illusion".

reception

Frontispiece of the first French edition of the Red Book of Mao. 1966

As Francesca del Lago explains in her essay on Mao as a political icon, the Mao portrait from Tian'anmen Square is probably the most widely reproduced portrait of a single person. According to statistical estimates, it was circulated 2.2 billion times by 1968 in its function as the frontispiece of the Mao Bible alone . The Mao icon was omnipresent in the People's Republic of China: in official buildings, schools, kindergartens, cultural institutions, private homes, and on posters for party's propaganda campaigns. Added to this is the total number of photographs of Tian'anmen Square, which cannot be estimated, both by professional photographers and by amateurs distributed via social media , all with the portrait as a constant element.

Reception in the visual arts

In 1966 , Thomas Bayrle was one of the first artists in the West to create a kinetic work of art entitled "Mao", which is based on the iconic Mao image. A Mao dressed in red gradually transforms into a red star in front of the viewer .

The Mao portrait by Andy Warhol

The portrait acquired a new dimension of meaning through Andy Warhol's Mao image, through which the Great Chairman found its way into Western pop culture. As Gerhard Paul explains in his essay for Parliament, “he reduced the Chinese head of state to the status of a branded product, for which in the end all that mattered was the right packaging, that is, the coloring of the face and background.” Mao did the same with Warhol Jump to the "greatest pop star of the century".

On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Andy Warhol's death, the American Warhol Museum is organizing under the title “Andy Warhol. 15 Minutes Eternal ”is a traveling exhibition that will be held in Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing and Tokyo from 2012 to 2014. According to the organizer, the ten Mao screen prints in Beijing and Shanghai selected for the exhibition will be removed from the show at the request of the hosts.

In 2008, Christie's Andy Warhol's screen print of a portrait of Mao Zedong was sold for $ 120 million to an unknown buyer from Hong Kong - billionaire Joseph Lau is suspected in the press .

literature

  • Gerhard Paul : The Mao portrait. Ruler image, protest symbol and art icon. in: Zeithistorische Forschungen / Studies in Contemporary History , online edition, 6 (2009) H. 1, URL: [1]
  • Gerhard Paul: “China's Mona Lisa” - On the history of the Mao portrait and its global reception. In: The Parliament . No. 39, September 27, 2010.
  • Gerhard Paul: Mao. The portrait as a relic and pop icon . In: Pictures. made history from 1900 to today. Edited by Gerhard Paul: Göttingen, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 2011. pp. 180–187. ISBN 978-3-525-30024-4
  • Francesca dal Lago: Staff Mao. Reshaping an Icon in Contemporary Chinese Art . In: Art Journal . Vol. 58. No. 2. 1999. [2]
  • Minna Valjakka: Performance Art at Tian'anmen. In: Contour No. 20. 2010. pp. 19–28.
  • Wu Hung: Remaking Beijing - Tiananmen Square and the Creation of a Political Space . Chicago: The University of Chicago Press 2005.

Web links

Commons : Mao portraits at the Gate of Heavenly Peace  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Francesca dal Lago: Personal Mao. Reshaping an Icon. Art Journal. 1999. p. 48.
  2. illustrations
  3. Figure (Xin Mang (辛 莽)) accessed on May 31, 2016
  4. Figure
  5. Liu Yujie: Face of "heavenly peace". China daily.com October 4th 2011
  6. ^ Chairman Mao up for auction, China daily, May 19, 2006
  7. Mao Portrait Sale Called Off After Criticism. China Daily. May 27, 2006 .
  8. ^ Gerhard Paul: Mao. The portrait as a relic and pop icon. 2011. p. 185.
  9. Kong Hui. Painting by Ledder and Crane
  10. Kong Hui: Painting by Ladder and Crane. In: People's Republic of China, 50th Anniversary, accessed May 7, 2018
  11. ^ Paul 2011
  12. Peter Burke. Eyewitness. Berlin 2003. Quoted from: Gerhard Paul. Mao. Göttingen 2011. p. 184.
  13. Tilman Spengler: 40 Years of the Mao Bible. Süddeutsche.de. May 19, 2010.
  14. ^ Thomas Bayrle in the MMK Frankfurt. My little China wallpaper. August 8, 2006.
  15. Andy Warhol introduces Mao to China , October 20, 2015, accessed January 3, 2017
  16. Quoted from: Gerhard Paul: "Chinas Mona Lisa" - On the history of the Mao portrait and its global reception. In: The Parliament. No. 39, September 27, 2010.
  17. ^ Gerhard Paul. China's Mona Lisa. 2010
  18. Bloomberg. Frederik Balfour: Beijing Bans Warhol's Mao Portraits from China Exhibition. Bloomberg. 17th December 2012.
  19. ^ The Socialization of Collectors FAZ, June 12, 2007, No. 133, accessed on May 13, 2015
  20. London's famous auction houses and the world's most expensive paintings , accessed May 9, 2015.